U.S. Sen. Bob Casey joins letter calling for PFAS study release

Kyle Bagenstose @KyleBagenstose

Tuesday

Jun 12, 2018 at 3:34 PMJun 12, 2018 at 4:44 PM

The ramifications of a public disagreement between the country’s two top agencies tasked with examining health effects from chemicals could be significant. Because the chemicals are so widespread, exactly where safety levels are set determines how much money polluters — whether private industry or the military — could be forced to pay to clean-up contamination.

U.S. Sen Bob Casey, D-Scranton, has joined 12 of his colleagues in issuing a letter calling on federal agencies to release a health study that some say is being suppressed by Trump administration officials.

The letter, dated last Friday, was sent to the heads of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and calls for the study’s release. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, is also a signee.

The study’s purpose is to analyze potential health effects stemming from exposure to perfluorinated chemicals, or PFAS, which have contaminated drinking water sources across the country. The unregulated chemicals are the source of several significant drinking water contaminations across the Delaware Valley, including around the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

“The results of this study are critical to protecting the health and well-being of communities across the country, and it is imperative that the results of this study be released immediately,” the letter read.

The chemicals are believed to be in the drinking water of tens of millions of Americans, after being widely used in a variety of products, including non-stick pans, waterproof clothing, food wrapping and firefighting foams.

The chemicals have been linked by some studies to a variety of illnesses, including cancer. But the science around their toxic effects is still incomplete, and various federal and state agencies disagree on what levels of the chemicals are safe for daily consumption.

In 2016, the EPA set a lifetime health advisory for two of the more common PFAS chemicals, PFOS and PFOA, at 70 parts per trillion. But according to numerous media reports last month, the draft study, which is being prepared by a sub-agency of Health and Human Services, effectively recommends a lower level of exposure to protect against all health effects.

The ramifications of a public disagreement between the country’s two top agencies tasked with examining health effects from chemicals could be significant. Because the chemicals are so widespread, exactly where safety levels are set determines how much money polluters — whether private industry or the military — could be forced to pay to clean-up contamination.

The dynamic was apparently not lost on administration officials. Emails obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists earlier this year show one White House official warning of a “public relations nightmare,” should the study’s numbers become public. Other emails appear to show EPA, Department of Defense, and White House officials working to suppress or delay the study’s release.

The senators’ letter notes the study apparently was finalized in January but has yet to be released. It called the alleged efforts of officials to block its release “unacceptable.”

“It is critical that this report be released without delay and that EPA act immediately to update its guidelines to ensure Americans are informed of and protected from the danger of exposure to these toxins,” the letter read. “We need to ensure that all parties are working off the most up-to-date information to maintain a safe water supply.”

The letter was signed by 10 Democrats and two Republicans from 10 states, ranging from Rhode Island to West Virginia, to Florida to Colorado. It was addressed to EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and HHS secretary Alex Azar.

The HHS said in mid-May it was preparing to release the study, but had not done so as of Tuesday morning.

Casey told this news organization in May that if the allegations of suppression are true, the “White House should stop blocking the release of this health study.”

“People in Bucks and Montgomery counties as well as areas across the country deserve to know the health risks their families have been exposed to,” Casey said in an emailed statement.

In May, House lawmakers also issued a bipartisan letter to Pruitt calling for the release of the study, among them Brian Fitzpatrick, R-8, of Middletown, and Brendan Boyle, D-13, of Philadelphia. After Pruitt wrote that he did not have authority over the release of the study, Fitzpatrick called the response “lackluster.”

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